The
welfare
system
in
the
United
States
has
seen
great
changes
over
the
course
of
the
last
century,
moving
us
away
from
“charity”
and
towards
a
system
that
considers
cash
assistance
to
be
a
temporary,
support
system
as
people
get
back
to
work
and
back
on
their
feet.
The
most
extreme
of
these
changes
occurred
during
the
1980s
and
1990s,
when
programs
that
combined
welfare
and
work
were
tested
as
“experiments”
in
the
states
and
then
became
federal
law
in
1996.
The
cornerstone
of
the
new
“welfare
to
work”
model
is
known
as
the
Temporary
Assistance
for
Needy
Families
(TANF)
block
grant
and
provides
aid
to
the
majority
of
welfare
cases,
contingent
upon
their
participation
in
work
activities.
While
the
effects
of
TANF
implementation
on
welfare
caseloads
have
been
extensively
studied,
a
consensus
still
has
not
been
reached
regarding
the
extent
of
the
effect.
Studies
span
the
gamut
in
how
much
they
attribute
the
decrease
in
welfare
caseloads
to
welfare
reform,
with
most
admitting
that
the
number
of
potentially
confounding
variables
in
existence
puts
every
model
in
danger
of
serious
bias.
It
is
with
this
precise
dilemma
in
mind
that
I
undertake
my
principle
research
project,
hoping
to
build
off
of
what
has
been
done
before
and
contribute
new
estimates
measuring
the
effects
of
TANF
on
welfare
use.
Additionally,
in
part
two
of
my
research,
I
hope
to
be
the
first
to
contribute
some
empirical
knowledge
to
our
understanding
of
the
effects
of
the
Family
Cap
reforms
on
welfare
use.
After
its
implementation,
TANF
became
an
umbrella
program
to
which
other
welfare
reforms
could
be
added,
on
a
state-­‐by-­‐
state
basis.
The
Family
Cap
reforms
were
among
these
and
involved
limitations
on
5
benefits
for
families
based
on
family
structure
concerns.
The
effects
of
this
reform
policy
on
welfare
use
have
been
very
sparsely
studied;
with
results
that
are
inconclusive
in
the
few
places
that
they
exist.
I
hope
to
modify
a
model
that
was
used
to
measure
the
effects
of
time
limit
reforms
on
welfare
use
and
apply
it
to
the
Family
Cap
reforms.
If
such
a
model
could
be
tailored
to
work
with
the
Family
Cap
reforms,
it
could
provide
estimates
that
would
further
our
understanding
of
which
specific
policy
reforms
within
the
TANF
bundle
are
effective.